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Groupama 24 : a solid leaderPast the midway mark in the race, Groupama 24 is holding firmly onto its place as leader of the overall ranking in the 38th edition of the Tour de France à la Voile. Having left Dunkirk on 3 July, the four crew, who have been taking it in turns aboard the one-design trimaran Diam 24, are racking up a solid pace and a level of consistency that few competitors are managing to keep up with. As the fleet leave the Atlantic bound for the Mediterranean, Pierre Pennec and Franck Cammas give us the low-down.Helmsman on Groupama 24 in the absence of Franck Cammas, who was competing in the World Nacra 17 Championships in Denmark, Pierre Pennec very quickly found the keys to performance: "These results are down to the work carried out by the whole team since March. We've prepared the boat well, the organisation is honed and the crew is as applied as it is relaxed. The upshot of that is that we're not getting overly tired and we're not stupidly wasting energy".

Aside from a fifth place due to around fifty litres of unexpected water ingress in the trimaran's forward section in the first coastal course, Groupama 24 has never finished lower than third place: "We go fast in all the different wind conditions and in all the course types. As a result, we're not taking tactical risks," continues the sailor who represented France in the Olympic Games in Sydney in a Tornado.

Making his grand entrance during the second day of the Roscoff stopover, Franck Cammas replaced Pierre Pennec at the helm: "This change of position went perfectly smoothly, as much for Franck as it did for me when I was switched over to trimming the mainsail and calling tactics. Franck very quickly adapted and found his bearings from the start of the season, which enabled us to secure a win in the Grand Prix de l'Ecole Navale".

For the person who has skippered and helmed the Groupama boats for the past 18 years, the arrival on the Tour de France has been managed in the usual way, namely with precision: "We knew exactly what we had to do. From Denmark I was being kept informed about the crew's performance on a daily basis. They handled the situation superbly well and the presence of our coach, Maxime Paul, has been important. He has a very good technical eye with regards the trimming, both ours and those of our rivals".

As far as that competition is concerned, the presence of CombiWest and Spindrift on the podium comes as no surprise: "Of the five pre-season races, these are the two crews who performed the best along with ourselves. As such, it's fairly logical to see them here. We're more amazed by the fine performances posted by the youngsters on Vannes Agglo and Grandeur Nature Vérandas, who we didn't see at the start of the season".

With a 17-point lead over CombiWest and 28 over Spindrift, Groupama 24's position is certainly appealing, but it is in no way definitive: "We know the value of our rivals. They won't give an inch, added to which they are very strong in the close-contact racing. They just need to be aware that we're not going to drop our guard. We want this Tour," concludes Pierre Pennec, who was in great shape as he set a course for Roses in Spain.

The first race starts on July 11th and with more than 50 boats already entered, this year is promises to be another fantastic and highly competitive series.

This year the courses have been updated to allow for more corners and tactical decisions with some different landmarks chosen to send the fleet around. In addition to the course changes, the order of the races has been rearranged with a medium, long, short format to allow for some after race socialising once the last race in the series has been completed.

The first race is the NZ Spars and Rigging 60 July 11th, followed by the Evolution Sails 100 August 8th and finishing with the Baltic 50 September 5th. Each race has 3 course lengths, Smallboat, Shorthaul and Longhaul. The Smallboat course is designed to allow smaller boats to compete and also combines a cruising division. Shorthaul covers the mid size and sports style keelers and the non spinnaker division. Larger keelers and multihulls go further afield in the Longhaul division and really test the endurance of the competitors.

Briefing is set for 7pm at the RNZYS on Thursday the 9th July. Quite possibly one of the largest gatherings of likeminded sailors, the briefing is always filled with a couple of hundred yachties catching up and checking out the competition. Challenges get issued and bets placed, normally in liquid form to be paid up at prize giving. Prize giving is set for the 2nd October. Each series entry comes with 2 tickets to the prize giving and dinner with additional tickets being available for purchase for people wanting to bring extras.

Light Airs Challenge Teams In Hunt For Quarter Final PlaceMarstrand, Sweden (1st July 2015): Teams were faced with soaring tempand challenging light air conditions today during Qualifying Session three of the Stena Match Cup Sweden in Marstrand, as the final races of the Qualifying round determine which 8 of the 14 team field will advance to the Quarter Finals.

Defending ISAF World Champion Ian Williams (GBR) GAC Pindar remains undefeated with a 10-0 scoreline, needing just one more win from his last 3 races to finish at the top of the standings, and thus earn him first choice of his Quarter Final opponent.

“Flight 20 was the first time we have really been behind this week. We had a bit of work to do, Keith [Swinton] had a pretty good lead on us at one point. But it was so fickle out there, so we focused on our own shifts and it came good for us.” said Williams.

Keith Swinton (AUS) Black Swan Racing sits two points behind Williams with 8 points, with Taylor Canfield (ISV) US One in third with 7 points alongside the Swedish favourites Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Nautiska Racing, and Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Stena Sailing Team.After his impressive performance yesterday, Berntsson faced a difficult day after being black flagged in his race against Dane Joachim Aschenbrenner, and then dropping three penalties against Taylor Canfield. As if it wasn’t enough, Berntsson then received an unfortunate knock to the head requiring him to come ashore briefly. However he and his Berntsson Sailing Team know the Marstrand waters better than any, and his Quarter Final place seems safe for now.eratures

The pro Sailor and sports journalist Sébastien Destremau, is entering into the next Vendée Globe with FaceOcean’s project. After the race, one of his supporters will have the opportunity to win his boat for free. "As far as I know this is the first time such a big boat will be won. It is unheard of and very innovative," said David Brabis, CEO of the Vendée Globe

For Sébastien Destremau, who participated in five America's Cup campaigns, FaceOcean’s goals are simple: create a human-scale project and share it with thousands of Fans, finish this solo round the world race and give the possibility to a lucky winner to take over the helm in 2020.

June 18th 2015 is the beginning of a vast operation of crowdfunding. Especially with the Virtual Regatta players (500 000 competitors during the last Vendée Globe) with which Sebastien has developed a strong relationships over the years thanks to his daily video News (100 million videos views to date).

"The Vendée Globe is the most popular game among our community ad it was obvious for us to support Sebastien in this adventure" said Philippe Guigné VirtualRegatta Founder during the FaceOcean press conference.

The project changed gear with the recent purchase of the IMOCA 60 "Explora-Gartmore". Currently located in South Africa, the boat is simple and very reliable. She has already competed four round the world races, including two Vendée Globe (both in the top 10 finish)

"To embark thousands of fans on this project, we are offering two levels of involvement. The first level is to become a « Fan » and it is completely free. A draw will be done and the lucky winner will be the new proud owner of my boat at the end of the Vendée Globe! Then the fans have the possibility to put their photo on the boat and become a "Crew-member" for a financial contribution according to the size of the photo chosen (from 10 €). We have also developed a unique offer for sponsors interested in FaceOcean’s concept » said the skipper of FaceOcean.

The next steps of this out of the box project include the return of the boat in France in the coming weeks, followed by a thorough technical preparation in Toulon (South of France), with the aim of transforming the boat into a real television studio, then a Transatlantic race in spring and some public relations in the summer of 2016.Then on November 6th 2016, will be the official start of FaceOcean’s attempt to climb the Everest of the Seas in les Sables d'Olonne.

Six medals for the NZL Sailing Team at 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup WeymouthIn what has been one of the NZL Sailing Team most successful international regattas the team has won six medals at 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Weymouth including one gold, four silver and one bronze.Gold and silver in the 49er for New Zealand with Peter Burling and Blair Tuke further extending their unbeaten run in the class and team-mates Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski sharing the podium for silver.Both New Zealand’s womens’ double-handers crews have won silver medals, Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie beaten on count-back only by long-time rivals Saskia Clark and Hannah Mills (GBR). Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech take silver in 49erFX also overthrown in the final race, by class favourites.Featuring strongly all week in the Finn standings New Zealand has collected silver and bronze in the class, which will come to New Zealand in November this year to battle out their World Championship title.

49er and 49erFXDespite a poor start at this regatta, Peter Burling and Blair Tuke were back in front in the men’s 49er class and went into today’s medal race with an 18 point buffer over team-mates Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski.All went according to plan for Burling and Tuke and after a 6th place on the water today they collected the gold, extending their amazing unbeaten run to 17 straight victories at the major events in the class.“Our first win in Weymouth,” says a delighted Burling. On their approach to today’s race Burling said, "We had a little bit to do, but we had a little bit of a points gap on second so the game plan was to try and stay close to them, and we managed to put together a relatively solid result."Hansen and Porebski were 7th in today’s medal race and comfortably secure the silver medal making it 1-2 for New Zealand on the 49er podium. Encouragingly, this is their best result for 2015 to date.Taking the lead into today’s medal race Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech were out performed today by reigning world champions in the women’s 49erFX class, Martine Soffiatti Grael and Kahena Kunze. The Brazilian’s struck out an early lead in today’s medal race and never relinquished it finishing well ahead of the pack.Maloney and Meech crossed in 9th and have to settle for silver this time."We just didn't get the shift right today and we couldn't stay with our competitors which was a bit of a mistake and we just let the Brazilians get away from us,” said Maloney after racing."It was a pretty nice week sailing in Weymouth, we got some pretty good races in but we had a disappointing Medal Race and we can learn lot from it."The 49er and 49erFX fleets will sail their 2015 European Championship next month in Portugal, building towards August’s Aquece Rio International Regatta (Olympic Test Event) and then the 2015 49er World Championship being staged in Buenos Aires, Argentina in November.

470 Women’s and Men’sJo Aleh and Polly Powrie have enjoyed being back in Weymouth where three years ago they won Olympic gold, and this time they came oh so close again finishing this regatta on equal points with victors Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark (GBR).The kiwis were 5th in today’s medal race, while the Brits were 4th and drawing equal on points the gold goes to Mills and Clark because they placed higher in today’s race.Aleh and Powrie congratulate them on a great final race; “It was an interesting day on the water, the British girls Hannah and Saskia pulled off a very well executed race and we didn't quite match them this time. So they won this round and we ended up 2nd overall,’ says Jo Aleh.“It's been a good week of sailing, some great learnings as always. We’re ready to tidy up a few more areas of our racing ready for the next regatta which is European Champs in a few weeks.”Paul Snow-Hansen and Daniel Willcox sailed well across the first half of the series, but were knocked by some average results on day four and went into the Men’s 470 medal race lying 10th. Finishing 5th on the water today didn’t change their position and they end the regatta in 10th overall.

FinnJosh Junior put up a good fight for gold in the Finn medal race, the young Wellingtonian giving it everything he could to take victory off the on-form Giles Scott from Great Britain.Knowing that Junior was in with a reasonable chance needing only to finish two places ahead of him in today’s race Scott and Junior ended up towards the back of the fleet and while the kiwi crossed ahead in 9th Scott was right behind him 10th and secured the gold medal.Junior recently won silver at the Finn European Championships in Split, Croatia and admits that both he and Murdoch have made gains in the class;Junior says, "I think we are now getting the gear right and are starting to go really fast. Doc [Murdoch] has been a great sailor for many years and I've sailed pretty well and we are both starting to move towards the front, so hopefully that continues and we can do this more regularly."Andrew Murdoch sailed home with a 6th in today’s medal race coming close to team-mate Junior on points, but not close enough to take silver from him. Murdoch, from Northland’s Kerikeri Cruising Club takes the bronze for his first Finn medal at an ISAF Sailing World Cup Regatta.This November the Finn class will sail the Finn World Cup (their 2015 World Championship) here in New Zealand with Takapuna Boating Club set to host the world’s best in the Olympic heavy-weight dinghy later this year. The kiwis will be hoping to put on a good show on home waters.

Laser and RadialTwo New Zealand sailors were in today’s Laser medal race; Andy Maloney ended the regatta well with a 2nd place today which sees him end the regatta in 7th place overall.“After a week of ups and downs, I'm pretty happy to finish on a high with second place in the medal race. It was an extremely tight race which moved me up to finish 7th overall. Not the goal but some real positives to take from the week,” reports Maloney. Meanwhile Sam Meech, who broke into the top ten with great results on day four, has concluded the regatta in 8th after placing 8th in the medal race.Thomas Saunders ends the regatta in 12th with Michael Bullot close behing in 13th.In the Laser Radial, Sara Winther ends the regatta in 17th place; Susannah Pyatt in 31st.

More about the ISAF Sailing World CupThe ISAF Sailing World Cup is a world-class annual series for Olympic sailing. It is open to the sailing events chosen for the 2016 Olympic Sailing Competition. Its centre piece is the ISAF Sailing World Cup Final in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.The 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup will consist of five regattas for all ten Olympic events and where possible, Formula Kite Racing. Qualification places for the ISAF Sailing World Cup final are up for grabs at each event. The final will bring together the top 20 boats in each Olympic event and an Open Kiteboarding event where the World Cup Champions will be crowned

470 Women’s and Men’sJo Aleh and Polly Powrie maintain their day one lead although British rivals Saskia Clarke and Hannah Mills have inched a little closer and now sit just one point behind the kiwi Olympic champions.“It was an okay day out there for us today. We’re a little frustrated as we made a few basic mistakes that cost us a few places,” reports Jo Aleh. “We got a 4th and a 2nd, so not too bad in terms is results.”While not able to re-produce their perfect scores from day one, Aleh and Powrie are clearly enjoying being back on the memorable territory of Weymouth and are relishing the blustery, familiar conditions that they often compare to New Zealand’s Takapuna.“There was good breeze and some great waves downwind, although still rather shifty and lots of pressure differences. It made for some interesting racing.”In the Men’s 470 Paul Snow-Hansen and Daniel Willcox take a massive jump up the leader board into 3rd overall, due to the combination of a great day on the race track and their discard coming into play. Sailing two races today they were 4th and 7th and now have 14 points, four adrift of the Aussies in 2nd.

Laser and RadialAndy Maloney continues to lead the Laser class after day two of racing in Weymouth. He placed 6th and 18th on the water today and holds a four point lead over Sweden’s Jesper Stalheim and Britain’s Philipp Buhl who are tied on points in 2nd and 3rd.Michael Bullot has broken into the top ten after a great performance today with a win and a 6th. The Murray’s Bay Sailing Club representative is now in 7th overall.Sam Meech also improved his overall position today with results including a 5th and a 7th which pushes him up into 12th. Thomas Saunders is in 21st place.In the Laser Radial Sara Winther is in 18th overall, while Susannah Pyatt is 28th.

FinnAndrew Murdoch’s overall lead in the Finn after day one has slipped from his grasp with the on-form hometown favourite Giles Scott taking the top spot in the Finn fleet after day two.Regardless it was still a good day for both kiwis in the men’s heavy weight dinghy class. Josh Junior has improved to 3rd place overall after a 4th and a 2nd in today’s racing, while Murdoch is just behind in 4th making for two in the top five for New Zealand.Points remain close at the top of the board and the 24 boat fleet are now half way through the fleet racing which will determine who sails the top ten medal race on Sunday in Weymouth.

49er and 49erFXIts New Zealand 2nd and 3rd in the Men’s 49er skiff standings with the two kiwi crews the only ones in the class to return three single digit scores on day two.Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski take a jump from 7th up to 2nd with a 3rd, an 8th and a race win to hold a points-score of 26, three behind Sweden’s Victor Bergstrom and Victor Vasternas.Olympic silver medallists Peter Burling and Blair Tuke came home top five in three races held today in Weymouth and climb up to 3rd overall into more familiar territory on the leader board.However of all the NZL Sailing Team it was Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech who performed the best today with an outstanding 1-2-1 from their three races which sees them jump into the overall lead in the Women’s 49er FX. "We had a really good day today. Everything kind of felt easy and we were going quite fast and that always helps," smiled Meech. "It was quite good racing and everyone was going really fast. If you made a mistake you were going to get passed but if you didn't, then you were always going to pass people."Maloney and Meech are amongst the leading competitors in the 49erFX and have the potential and know how to medal at each event. Most recently they finished seventh at World Cup Hyeres and have been working hard to get back on the podium, "We've got a few things to work on for the rest of this regatta. Our starts have been a focus for us and things are starting to come together. We'll look to push on from that and try to get a great result from this regatta."Nacra 17Olivia Mackay and Micah Wilkinson did not compete in the Nacra 17 racing today. They suffered a broken rig on day one of the regatta.

Kiwi Finns fly on first day of Weymouth World CupAndrew Murdoch (NZL) opened his first return to Weymouth since the 2012 Olympics with a great performance to lead overnight from Jonathan Lobert (FRA) and Giles Scott (GBR) at the ISAF Sailing World Cup Weymouth & Portland.Back in 2012 Murdoch placed fifth in the Laser class while Lobert picked up the Finn bronze. Scott had to watch from the sidelines as his arch rival and teammate Ben Ainslie (GBR) took the gold. A lot has changed since then. Scott is now the best in the world and showed some of that form in the opening race with a strong victory after trailing round the top mark in 11th.The gusty and and shifty offshore conditions took their toll through the fleet with some big scores already on the board for some, including race 2 winner Josh Junior (NZL) who picked up a 15th in the first race, and Scott who dropped to 12th in the second.The Australians got the first upwind right in race 1 with Jake Lilley (AUS) rounding ahead of Oliver Tweddell (AUS) and Max Salminen (SWE). However first Murdoch and then Scott came past downwind to round opposite gates almost simultaneously. Murdoch tried to break out to the left with Scot following later along with most of the fleet. Murdoch held the initial advantage but as they negotiated the shifts into the top mark Scott's position further in the middle paid off and he took a small lead which he extended on the final downwind to the finish. Meanwhile Lobert had been further right still and moved up to third at the top and passed Murdoch half way down the final run to take second. Murdoch crossed third.Race 2 produced some different names at the front. Björn Allansson (SWE) won the pin and after pushing out from the fleet tacked back across and let Ed Wright (GBR) continue leftwards. Wright crossed back later on a larger shift and held the advantage at the top mark from Junior and Murdoch. The Kiwis were evidently much faster downwind and piled past to split tacks at the gate. Junior initially gained and then both Murdoch and Wright reeled him in as they approached the top mark again. However Junior is most dangerous downwind and extended away for a 120 metre lead to take the race win. Murdoch again passed Wright downwind to take second and the overall lead, while Wright cruised home in third.Murdoch said, “It's my first time back since the Olympics. I always enjoy the sailing here and it's good to be back. Today we had 12-17 knots from the north-east. Not a direction I saw much of in all the previous sailing I've done here. There were plenty of shifts and differences in pressure so it was good to come away from today with a couple of keepers.”Race 1 winner, Scott, said, “I struggled to get off the start line today. The fleet felt really punchy which I think it was after looking at the video. But the first race went well with a good first downwind for me.”“In the second I got the wrong side of a few shifts and found myself on the back foot. I had got back into it by the bottom but got caught out on the left with a 20 degree righty. So plenty to play for tomorrow in what I think will be similar conditions.”

The widely talked about and much anticipated Sea Blade SB20 will be released next week at the Hutchwilco New Zealand Boat Show, May 14-17.

The new fibreglass Sea Blade model range is a joint project between Lancer Industries in New Zealand who will manufacture the vessels, with world acclaimed US Company Navatek providing the patented designs for these unique vessels.

The SB20 Centre Console features an open and non clutter layout ideal for day excusions and fishing. The standard configuration includes features such as a 200L fuel tank, self draining cockpit, transom doors, passenger bench seating and underfloor storage with a large options list also available.

The SB20 is able to be powered by single outboards from 90-200hp or twin outboards from 2 x 50hp through to 2 x 115hp. The SB20 hull will also be offered in a cuddy cabin variant at a later date.

This first production model, fitted with a targa top has already been sold to a prominent New Zealand marine identity.

Unlike a conventional Deep V which can lack stability the Sea Blade is supported by the outer amas. Sea Blade’s patented Ultra Deep V technology utilises a combination of longitudinal steps, chines and pads. This shape has been tested to improve lift, ride and performance characteritics A key change in the design is the increased lifting areas which reduce drag and increase ride stability.

A fine bow and high deadrise allows the Sea Blade hull to slice through chop and waves. Slicing reduces craft pitch and airborne launch and the Sea Blade hull has been proven to minimize slamming force upon landing.

The SB20 is the first of a series of production models to be built with other trailerble models up to 23ft. Sea Blade can also offer large non trailerable models up to 70ft.

The SeaBlade SB20 will on display at the Hutchwilco New Zealand Boat Show, site EX08 at the ASB Show Grounds, Greenlane.

Charlie Cumbley wins OK Dinghy Spring Cup in Medemblik Charlie Cumbley (GBR) has won the OK Dinghy Spring Cup in Medemblik for The Rüdiger Prinz Trophy at the first attempt after a win in race 7 sealed the event for him. Jim Hunt (GBR) finished second with Greg Wilcox (NZL) just maintaining third after a late charge from Rene Johannsen (DEN).

The forecast strong winds seemed to blow themselves out overnight leaving a choppy sea and 14-18 knots, which gradually reduced during the day. It was a grey day though with rain coming through later. Wilcox made the best of the first race to lead round the first triangle. Then Cumbley came through on the second beat to lead to the finish for his fifth race win and the overall win with a race to spare.

The wind moderated slightly for the final race with reduced visibility and grey skies. This seemed to suit Hunt, who rounded the top mark in the lead. Cumbley briefly took the lead downwind, but on the second beat Hunt favoured the middle while the rest took the right. Hunt crossed back with a nice lead again and led to the finish.

With Cumbley and Hunt a clear first and second, Wilcox took third by a very narrow margin after Johannsen and Bo Petersen (DEN) closed the gap with some consistent sailing.

It was a very tough weekend, sailed in some testing and tricky conditions across all wind ranges. Charlie Cumbley was the deserved winner of the Rüdiger Prinz Trophy. This is the first year that this trophy has been presented. It was created in memory of long time OK Dinghy sailor Rüdiger Prinz who died earlier this year. It is a half model OK Dinghy in orange, the colour of his boat. The Spring Cup was one of his favourite events, so his friends decided it would be a fitting tribute to his memory. A collection was also taken in the Brakeboer pub last night, where EUR 300 was raised to be given to his family's chosen charity.